Party in Trinidad and cool out in Tobago! That's the basic Trinidad & Tobago goodtime tip. Two highly contrasting islands, two rich Caribbean experiences within a stone's throw from each other.
Of course, main island Trinidad is not just about party and carnival. There’s also sand and sea, not to mention the locally much-loved sport of cricket, which can be psychologically as engaging – and calming! – as a game of chess.
Meanwhile, with its tiny, tranquil population and the Western hemisphere’s oldest protected rainforest, Tobago offers a distinct experience. In addition to its Central Forest Reserve, declared as such in 1776, its sustainable ecotourism focus includes scuba diver-attracting coral reefs, with the biggest brain coral in the world. Not to mention several shipwrecks reminiscent of the era of eye-patched pirates.
Trinidad itself is the Mecca of calypso and steel drums, whose resonance is vibrant in Britain’s only major annual street party, the Notting Hill Carnival. Indeed, the famous Caribbean carnival – which can now be enjoyed across Latin America, especially in the tourist-driven Rio de Janeiro carnival or the superior Salvador de Bahia event in north-east Brazil – originated in Trinidad.
